Woodlands attorney joins race for 359th District Court Judge

Nancy Flake

Published
6:00 pm CST, Sunday, February 5, 2006

That's primarily why attorney William Harrison, 38, of The Woodlands, made the decision to put his name on the ballot for the March 7 Republican primary, where he will face incumbent Kathleen Hamilton and W.E. "Rusty" Herman. Since no Democrat has filed for the race, the winner of the primary and possible runoff election will take the post in January 2007.

"As a lawyer, I can only help out 100 to 200 people a year," said Harrison, whose specializations include family and criminal law and civil litigation. "As a judge, I can do that for thousands of people a year.

"As a judge, I get to decide what's right."

Doing what's right is important to Harrison, particularly in family law cases, where he's worked on a number of difficult custody cases.

"You take the best interest of the children at heart," he said. "My number one rule as a judge would be that in a custody battle, the parent who makes sure the kids see both parents as much as possible should have custody."

The managing partner of the Steinmann and Harrison law firm in The Woodlands, Harrison believes there are things that can be done to speed up the docket in the 359th District Court.

"We have an uncontested docket every day. If you have an uncontested case, bring it up, no appointment needed," Harrison said. "I'll take care of it. That would cut out 25 percent of every docket, and it would set an example for those on the contested docket."

He will be firm with attorneys who file countless continuance motions in some cases in an effort to keep things rolling.

"Any civil litigation or family law case can be handled in nine months," Harrison said. "If somebody comes up with a motion for a continuance, there's gotta be a pretty darn good reason."

Along the same lines, Harrison would like to limit the amount of time for hearings.

"Most cases can be heard in an hour for each side," he said.

Married to a former police officer and the father of two young children, Harrison is a former prosecutor for the Walker County District Attorney's office. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of Texas in Austin and got his law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. A former president of the Valley Oaks Townhome Association and former representative of the Alden Bridge Village Association, Harrison is an active member of The Woodlands Christian Athletic Association.

Because the law is "very clear" in civil matters, Harrison said handling those cases is simply a matter of following the law. In other cases, Harrison will be very clear about where he stands on the decisions he makes.

"You may not agree with a decision I make, but you'll understand why I make it," he said. "That's what I want people to leave the court knowing."